you so so so you you you you do you you Oh you you you do do so Wednesday at 11 and 10.30 in the morning is our Little Lambs. Thursday at 6.15 is our Abbots Cross Boys Club and also on Thursday 7.30 Connect will meet. Again Connect's going out so we're leaving the Sports Hall 7.30 sharp. Next Sunday, just for information, we have a pulpit exchange, and our pastor's going up to evangelize Ballycraige, and we have the Reverend Andrew Quinn from Ballycraige coming to speak to us both in the morning and in the evening. Just a reminder of a couple of announcements I made last week. Next week is the last week of the distancing in the church. So from the 22nd, there will be no distance seating or restrictions in the church. So it's just for information. just trailblazers again, so 20th to the 24th of June, it's our trailblazers, so if you haven't put your name down yet, see Andrew and get your name down for that and help out at that. Have a look, we apologise again for the screens, I think this is the screens only working at the moment, so you'll be pointing that way, but have a look at the screens as you come in and when you leave for some other special events that are happening up Just in the bookcase, we have a new prayer letter from Kate McCoy, who works for Youth for Christ. So that's the shape of it there. So if you want to pick that up as you leave, then you can pray for Kate at this time. These are all announcements. Thank you. Well, good morning, everyone. Before we start our little session of praise, we'll just bow our heads, close our eyes, and speak to God. Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you just for being with us here this morning again, Lord. We thank you for the wonderful day that we have outside, and we thank you for the health and the strength that we have, Lord. And Lord, we thank you for bringing us along here, Lord. And Lord, for those that are watching at home, Lord, we pray that you'll strengthen them too, Lord. hopefully bring them back amongst us as well, Lord. Lord, we just ask you now just to be with us in our service. Lord, help us to listen to what you have to say to us, Lord, and help us to praise your name, Lord, because we know you're worthy of our praise. We ask this in and through the precious name of Jesus, amen. Alright, we're going to start off with an old favourite which is Blessed Assurance. So, we'll have you all standing because you get very sleepy if you sit there in the heat for too long. I know I do. Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine. This is my story. Saving my Saviour all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture, wonders of my sight, Angels descending, angels above, This is my story, this is my song This is my story. I Okay, this next song is just, it's a wee bit more of a modern one compared to our last one. It's a song by the Gettys and it's by Faith. So again, I would ask you to stand. That's if you've got a note from your mummy saying you're allowed to. see Oh Oh In His hand the work is done, He'll provide me another man. I think the prophet's calling, When the long, long trial would be at hand, To break the chains of sin and death And cast my own grip from the grave I think the church was called to go In the water of the Spirit to the Lord We may learn that we'll stand to preach to you In every corner of the earth We will stand as children of the prophet We will face our idols Till the rainy season's finished and we're free. We will stand as children of God again We'll erase his face and the work he's done We'll walk by day and not by night We will stand as children of God I That's great singing and it's great to praise the name of the Lord. Now it's the kids turn to come up to the front. I'll just ask you to come up to the front here not right up here because I'll probably get told off if you did. So come on don't be shy and Elizabeth's gonna come and give the kids a hand at the front with the actions, okay? This morning's song is He Made the Stars to Shine. So, you should all know that. You should all be able to sing it. And you're all really rushing up to the front. Is there no kids here this morning? Well, I see two. Come on ahead, come on ahead, come on. Come on, we all love to sing, especially children, we love to see the children singing. There we are, we've got a few now, it's not so bad. Okay, who knows who made the stars to shine? Put your hand up if you know it. All the big ones don't know it obviously, but the wee ones do. Yes, brilliant. Okay, we're going to sing it. After two. One, two. He made the stars to shine, twinkle, twinkle. He made the rainbows in his flesh and blood. He made the mountains and the sea. And this is why I love Him, for He will let it die. The Lord of all creatures, He made the cross. I don't know about you, but I forgot them as well. okay so we'll try it through once again and after we do that if all the boys and girls want to leave and go out to tiny steps or the creche or sunday school and as soon as we sing this through once again you're free to go okay after two one two He made her rosy, He made her mine, mine, and He made me. A vision wild appears for me when I look on Be there for me! If you will not receive her, your life will be in vain! And for the Holy Spirit will not forgive you! That was great singing. I like it. Thank you, James, for that. And thank you, boys and girls, for singing so well. It's good to sit amongst the congregation and hear the singing. Just before we pray, just to update you on one or two individuals. John Moore is still with us, though the nurses keep telling us that he only has hours to live. And he's in Antrim currently, and the family are with him. And so they greatly appreciate everyone who has been praying for them. and we want to lift him up before the Lord at this time. And of course, others as well as they recover, Ebony Thompson and William Smith, who's going through some chemo, further chemo, and also for Adrian Bennington and others, we want to lift them up before the Lord. So let's pray together in prayer. Let's pray as we just commit our time and our gathering to the Lord. Let's pray together. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, we thank you that we can bow together, Lord, with hearts that are glad and full of faith because our God is able to do more than we can ever ask or even think. We thank you for your mercies, which are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. We thank you, Lord, that you have blessed us abundantly. You've met our need, Lord. We can say with the ancients of old, hitherto hath the Lord been with us, you've been our Ebenezer. And we want to praise you and bless you, Lord, because you're a God who cares for each individual. We thank you, Lord, for those who have been recovering and making some progress. with health issues, but O God, we do pray for those who are at the throes of entering into the next life. Remember, Lord, the whole Moore family. Lord, we pray that you'll uplift Kathleen, that she may know your grace, and that John may know that shepherd who promised that ye, the white, walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for thou art with me. We ask, Lord, too, for William Smith and for Adrian Bennington and for all the loved ones of our fellowship, for Emily Thompson, Lord, who is recovering from injury as a fall, as a consequence of a fall, and we pray, Lord, that you'll minister to them as well. Lord, we pray for our land. Lord, as a consequence of the recent elections, we are now more, as it were, susceptible to all sorts of laws that offend God and go against the Scriptures being forced upon us. And we pray, dear God, that the life, the life of the unborn will be protected. And, O God, we pray that God will move sovereignly. As, Lord, we shall see in a few moments the sovereign hand of God who rules and overrules and overwhelms and undertakes in every circumstance. You allow things, Lord, to happen for purposes and plans and reasons. But we ask, Lord, in these days that you will help us to keep our eyes on God, the one before whom everyone will have to do. Everyone will have to give account. Everyone will stand before him and give a reason for their actions and decisions and choices that they would make. We ask, Lord, that you will oversee this congregation and the church, the building in which we meet. We ask, Lord, that the church may be truly blessed of God as we seek to make a difference in the realms and the world in which we live. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunity of living for Jesus. We thank you, O God, for the great fact that we know him because he first loved us. And we ask, Lord, that we, the people of God, might rise up again and begin to live as God has laid out in his word. For those, Lord, who are lonely or sad or dealing with significant issues, Lord, unknown to us, but yet they're very real, we ask, Lord, that you'll meet each one at the very point of their need. We think of the many activities that are being planned. We think, Lord, of this praise service. We think of the baptism. We think of trailblazers, Lord. We think of the boys club. We think of youth club. We think of the Father of the Girls Brigade. We think of the youth fellowship. We think of stepping stones and tiny steps and all the various youth programs that we're involved in. We ask, Lord, that the blessing of God may be upon each and every one and upon every volunteer and leader. May we see, Lord, a fruit for our hire, we pray, that boys and girls, men and women, been swept into the kingdom. We ask, Lord, that you'll undertake, and may we see the mighty hand of God and work in reviving the church and bring us, Lord, to a place of vitality and reality as we seek to serve King Jesus. Lord, we ask as we commit ourselves to that you'll be one of our number this morning, for we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, James. Okay, just one more song before the pastor comes with his message for us this morning. It's, I Stand Amazed in the Presence. Now, I know we all know that, but we're gonna sing it a different tune, but I'm sure you know the tune too, so you should all be fine. We'll all stand again, because see, when you're sitting for the sermon, you'll be sitting for at least an hour. So you better stretch your legs while you can. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me my soul How wondrous, how wonderful And my song shall ever be How wondrous, how wonderful Is my Savior God With the ransomed in glory, His grace my alliance shall be. There'll be my joy to the angels who sing of Him. Sometimes when you sing a song to a new tune or a different tune, it makes you think about the words and that's why it's always good sometimes to shift things around. If you've got a Bible, then I'm gonna invite you to turn with me to Romans in chapter nine. We began there. We looked into the heart of Paul last week, and we're going to look into the first issue that he's dealing with, and that is that the Jews may perceive or consider that God is being unfaithful in the keeping of his promises. By the way, we are getting into chapter 10 of Nehemiah for Tuesday night. And if you know anything, we've been looking at the revival of the word of God in Nehemiah chapter eight. They wanted the book, call back the book, bring back the book. And when they read the word of God and discovered in the word of God how far they had fallen from the truth of God's word, It brought us about a sense of repentance. And then in chapter nine, we saw the priority of prayer in Nehemiah chapter nine. Well, all of that is pretty good until you, so what do you do with all of that? And so in chapter 10, then we see a revival of holiness of life. A holiness of life, revival of the home life, the social life, the moral life, the religious life. There's revival of life within the believer as they are confronted with the word of God. And so that's where we are on Tuesday night in chapter 10. We're reading from Romans chapter nine. And Romans chapter nine is the strongest One of the greatest chapters on the sovereignty of God that you'll ever get in God's word. And when we talk about the sovereignty of God, what are we really talking about? It means that we're talking about a God who's in control of everything. A God who knows everything and has absolute power and sway in everything. It also means that God can never do anything wrong. And everything he does is right. We can never cast aspersions onto the unfaithfulness of God, nor can we point the finger, regardless of what we go through or regardless of the life that we experience, we can never point the finger at God and claim that he's unfaithful. In Romans 9, Paul is addressing a number of problems that I pointed out in the last message. And they could perceive, now he hasn't heard these accusations yet, but he perceives that they could come up. We are God's special people, the Jews. And therefore, we were elect. And has now God set us aside and we're not important anymore, is he not gonna go through with his promises? Or does God go back on his word? So in Romans 9 we have a very strong, some very strong teaching on the sovereignty of God. You cannot, you dare not, point the finger at God because God can do whatever God likes. Because He's God. He's God. But He will never do anything that's unjust or unrighteous. In his sovereignty, he has chosen people for himself. He has chosen people for himself. Certain individuals and certain nations to execute, to do, to portray the glory of God before people. But the Bible also teaches about man's responsibility. And as I said to you in that little analogy of the chess player, the master chess player and the amateur, the master chess player can preempt every move you can make. And he can also manipulate the situation where he'll get you to the place where you make the decision that he wanted you to make at the beginning. And then he gets you to the place where you have to hand over your king. God works in the hearts of men and women. He brings us to that place where we hand over the throne of our hearts to King Jesus. D.L. Moody illustrated these great truths this way. He says, when we come to the door of salvation, we see the invitation overhead, whosoever will may come. And then, when we get through the door, we look back at the door of salvation and we see these words, elect from the foundation of the world. Truth is, brethren, this rhyme, I don't know where you are, these two great truths can never be reconciled. Or as Dr. Peckham used to lecture us when we were in Bible college, these two great truths, the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, are like two great train tracks. The train runs on both those tracks. And that's how it is. However, we should be content that the difficulty is in our minds. and not in the heart of God, and leave it up to him and eternity. This subject has divided the church down through the centuries. And many people who live on different divides will rarely or scarcely, sorry, some of them would scarcely talk to each other because the other would accuse the other of heresy. The fact is, The whole of the human race is condemned. Is condemned. And that God would, if God were to allow every man to go to hell, he'd be just. He'd be just. He'd be right in letting it happen. None of us deserve to be forgiven. We have offended God. It is us that have stepped away from God and blasphemed the very name of God and walked away. The real question is, therefore, does God have the right to stoop down and take a handful of men and women, otherwise doomed individuals, and claim them as a bride for Christ? Well, I said at the beginning, God is the right to do whatever God wants to do. And the very fact that God would stoop down, and I'm suspecting the majority of the people in this church today are saved. If you're not, you need to be. Then that's the mercy of God. That's the mercy of God. God brought you to a place where you yielded your life to him. The master chess player got you to a place where you had to surrender. It boils down to this then, before we read from God's word. If people are lost, it is because of their own sin and rebellion. And if they're saved, It's because of his electing grace. That's the subject of this chapter. In fact, we're dealing with two subjects, and if I had it tackled into the unfairness of God, then we definitely would have been here for an hour. And we deal that with the next time I'm in the pulpit. So let's read together from chapter six, sorry, chapter 10. Where am I? I'm here, I'm on the cross. Chapter nine, and we'll read from verse six, just for the sake of time, down to verse 13. Not as though the word of God has taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which were of Israel. Neither because they are of the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise. At this time will I come and Sarah will have a son. And not only this, but when Rebekah also hath conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Amen. We trust the Lord will bless that reading of his word. I said to you that these three chapters, they're not a parenthesis, and they're not dispensational. They're dealing with a real issue, and the real issue is justification by faith. That's what it boils down to. And chapter 9 deals with the Jews' past. And the key to the Jews' past was the sovereignty of God. And chapter 10 deals with the Jews' present. And the key to the Jews' present is the salvation of God. And then chapter 11 deals with the Jews' future. And the key to their future is the sincerity of God. Last time we considered Paul, he was deeply grieving over his own people. He spoke of the wonderful privileges they had been graced with, and every one of these privileges and graces pointed to Christ. They understood the free grace and mercy of God. They misunderstood it. They had a special place in history and the purposes of God, but developed an attitude of entitlement. which resulted in pride. Instead of being who they were as a consequence of divine election, they felt entitlement because of who they were. They were filled with pride because of their position in history. They misinterpreted their place in God's heart as a reward, as a reward for who they were and not God's grace. Theirs was pride of place, people, and position. We are God's people, they would say. We are somebody, and that's why God chose us. And if you know anything about the Jews, they looked at the Gentiles as being dogs. They weren't only second-rate citizens, they were third and fourth-rate citizens. And they arrived at that conclusion because the blessing of God had been on the Jews and the Jewish nation, but they considered and concluded that because the Gentiles were outside the commonwealth of God, that they couldn't possibly be loved of God, and so therefore they were third and fourth-rate citizens, and therefore they would never, ever countenance them. Now they have been set aside. We gave you a verse, Acts 13, verses 46 and verse 47, that they have been set aside and we have now sent our attention towards the Gentiles. The Gentiles are in possession of their privileges. That being the case, they conclude that God goes back on his promises and cannot be trusted or else Paul's gospel of salvation by grace through faith is not legitimate. And we talked about all the blessings that they had last week, and we spoke about their privileges and positions, their pomp and ceremony, their promises and proclamations, all of which were fulfilled in the person of Christ, and they finally rejected him. Paul must be clear, and he must clear up these potential arguments that he perceives that the Jew may have as he contemplates the gospel of Christ. Paul explains the process God used to establish them as his own, his elect, his chosen. I found a very helpful little quote from a college professor. He says, trying to understand God's election, you'll lose your mind. And trying to explain it away, you'll lose your soul. So we look at the nature or the process by which God works in choosing or bringing his own people to himself. You see, whenever you get a contract, you want to read the small print, don't you? You want to see what's in the fine details. And by the way, if you buy little things from voucher or Groupon or Pigsback, whatever it is you go for those wee cheapy weekends away, sometimes you need a little fine print because what you're after buying might be out of date before you have time to use it. And it's always good to read the fine print of a contract. But the thing about God's salvation and his covenant with man and his covenant with grace is it's not a contract. It's God's covenant with man. Whatever he decides, what he determines is right. Now I'm gonna try and avoid this from being, as I said last Sunday, a lecture. I would much rather try and bring some of these thoughts as we deal with Esau and Jacob and Ishmael and Isaac, and try and tease out of God's Word what Paul has been saying in these very complicated principles and precepts. And being the simple preacher that I am, that's exactly what I'm gonna try and do. The first thing according to God's divine election is it's not according to descendency, verse six. It's not according to descendency. In verse six it says, Now would you turn with me to John's gospel in chapter eight, because there we have a collision. a collision of the Jews with the Lord Jesus. And they are meeting a very, very courageous Christ. They're absolutely convinced that they're right and they have the right to claim who they are. And who did he think he was by giving false promises of abiding in him? Now look at chapter eight and the verse 31 of John's gospel. They said, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then you're my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. They answered him, where Abraham stayed. Now, we mightn't read very much into that, but obviously the Jews realized something very significant that Jesus was saying. They were saying our truth, our light, our guidance, our comfort, our refuge is Abraham. And he's after saying, no, if you abide in me and you abide in my truth, then that's the reality, that's your security, that's your safety for a future in eternity. And there's a collision of these two, listen, traditions. The new wine, which goes into the new wine skins, and the old wine, which is in the skins of Judaism. Abraham only looked forward to was only through whom the promise would really come, the seed, which was Christ. But they were thinking, no, as descendancy from Abraham, God gives us the right to claim to be the seed with the promise. And notice how Jesus deals with them in John 8 in verse 44. He says, ye are of your father, Abraham, no. He says, ye are of your father, the devil. So in verse six of Romans chapter nine, Paul is saying a little bit more diplomatically, I might say, and a little bit more gently, but he's really saying that God's divine election is not according to descendency. because Jews are lost and Gentiles get saved. Paul is saying the only way that you can be a real Jew amongst the elect is by possessing the same faith and the spirit of the faith that Abraham had. Abraham believed God, not tradition, and it was accounted unto him as righteousness. And the heart of their argument would be that God was under obligation to fulfill his promise, even though the spirit of the law, the spirit of the covenant was not in their hearts. God was still under obligation to include them. And of course, we know God's obligated to no one. Just because you're a Protestant, or a Congregationalist, or a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Pentecostal, or in the Brethren, claiming to be a member or satisfying the rites and rituals of ceremonies is one thing. But to have the truth and the spirit of the gospel, which is salvation by grace through faith, then it's empty and meaningless. The dynamic of conviction within is quite another. The thing that matters is, where are you now? You would be surprised how many people who profess salvation would speak to me and say, I'm not sure if I'm among the elect. Because people are so distorted, they're so confused over the whole subject. My dear friend, if God has come to your heart and he's drawn you by and convicted you of your sin and you felt that you were the individual that was the only person in that gathering and that your life was conspicuous before God and you got down on your knees and you repented of your sin, then God brought you to himself and saved you by sovereign grace. So the thing is, where are you now is what matters. It's not because you've been brought up in a Christian home and a Christian family and a Christian country, went to a Christian church, and you learn Christian Bibles verses. Hello, Charlotte. It's not as if you have, because your father and your father's father and your father's father's father was an elder or a deacon or a pastor or a preacher. It's your experience and your relationship with God that matters. So it's not according to descendancy. And verse 10 and verse 13 would tell us that it's not according to entitlement. This is where we get into the nitty gritty of all of it. You see, Ishmael was Abraham's son, this is what he's referring to, and Esau was Isaac's son. And so, if it's by entitlement, then they have as much claim as Jacob and Esau, haven't they? I mean, they're all children of patriarchal descent, aren't they? Abraham and Isaac respectively were their fathers. And so if it's by descent, and if it's by entitlement, then they're entitled as much as Jacob and Isaac. They're both born into patriarchal families. They were both prayed for by their father, and they were both blessed. All four men were blessed by God himself. Now you're gonna have to go back to Genesis chapter 21 to see this. Genesis chapter 21, first of all. And see verse 11 to 13, Genesis chapter 21. And you need to put your finger over there in Genesis chapter 27. Go to Genesis chapter 21, verses 11 to 13. I hope I've got the right verse anyway. Genesis chapter 21, verses 11 to 13. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy bondwoman in all that Sarah hath said unto thee. Hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also to the son of the bondwoman I will make a nation because he is thy seed. Now speaking of Ishmael. Now let's go over there to Genesis chapter, by the way, look at verse 17 and verse 18. And God heard the voice of the lad, that is Ishmael, and the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him in thine hand, and I will make him a great nation. That's Ishmael. Look at chapter 27 then of verse 39. verse thirty-nine. Genesis twenty-seven and verse thirty-nine. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. And by thy sword shalt thou live and thou shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau, Esau hated his brother. But that in in essence is God blessing Esau. The issue is, both sets of siblings, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, could both claim entitlement and be justified in doing so. So Paul is saying, don't even try that argument. God chose whom he chose. He chose because and according to his superlative knowledge and wisdom and his solemn will. God knew who they would become and what they become. And by the way, the Ishmaelites and the Edomites, which was descendants from Esau, they became archenemies of Israel and the Jews. So God knew well in advance the kingdom men they would be. And according to his will and according to his sovereign purpose, he laid his hand on Jacob and on Isaac. By the way, you've noticed that verse, and many a time it tripped me up, and I'm not going to avoid it, because I'm not afraid of it. It's Malachi chapter one, verses two to three. I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, Malachi, if you want to look it up, chapter one, verses two to three, where God says, I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, in what way have you loved us? Was not Isaac Esau Jacob's brother, says the Lord? Yet. Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. Well, what's the issue with that one? The issue with that is that it's the nations and not the individuals. Because if that was individuals, then that would contradict what God's Word says, that He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord. And so my dear friend, when it comes to Esau and Jacob, that is speaking about the nations and the kingdoms. And by the way, it was Malachi. It wasn't recorded onto Malachi. And Malachi was only 400 years before the Lord returned. Or the Lord was born. 400 years. So there was the nations and what they stood for, the Edomites and the Ishmaelites. Whenever we look at the issue of election, God, we very rarely see of him electing individuals. It's always people for purposes and plans. And that makes sense then of John 15 and verse 16. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And then he goes on to say, many are called, but few are chosen. To many, the call of the gospel goes out. They sit in church services and gospel campaigns. They hear someone like Mark or the outreach team going around the doors, and the call of the gospel goes out, and their hearts are stirred, but few are chosen. So it's not according to entitlement. Now I'm nearly finished because I knew that this would be quite a heavy one, but you have to use what you're listening to and go home and read up on it in yourself. What does that mean to you and I? God chose a nation for a purpose, that they would glorify his name. That the nations may know that there's a God in heaven, God saved you so that the nations may know there's a God in heaven. I would to God that more of those politicians that have been elected over the last week, but if we had more fear of God and a less desire to please men, a lot of our laws would be different. But God has saved you and saved me for a reason. And he has, according to his superlative knowledge and sovereign will, has put his hand on you so that you might live for his glory and honor, and I can bring you to verse after verse after verse. And here's the very heart of it, and I don't care. I could go to every one of you that profess faith in Christ Jesus, And I would tell you, and I'd look you straight in the eye, and it doesn't matter if you're intellectual ability, it doesn't matter how good you look, it doesn't matter where your background comes from. I could tell you, and I could walk up, and I could be justified before God, and I could say, when God saved you, God had a purpose for your life. God doesn't work willy-nilly, wondering, what am I going to do with this crowd? He doesn't work as if to say, well, now that I have them, what am I going to do with them? And God uses your background, and God uses your intellect, and God uses your ability because He's sovereign. He knows exactly what He's doing. And I think that's wonderful. I am not entitled to the grace of God, and I'm not entitled to the blessing of God, but God blesses me, and God enables me, and God gifts me to do what God has called me to do. And God will enable you, and God will gift you, and God will challenge you to do the things that will honor and glorify His name. Not because you're entitled. but because he is a great sovereign purpose for your life. God called you and I into his family by sovereign grace to display the wisdom, the grace, the mercy, the love, the power, the glory of God. In fact, to display God's heart. See how he loved him, it says, Jesus and his love for Lazarus. How do we love? How do we serve? How do we live amongst our neighbors and our brothers? Because God saved you by sovereign grace to do his will, not your will. Not to make you comfortable, but to bring glory to his name. That's his electing grace. Jacob have I loved. I love the way that the nation exalted God. Now they fell far away and that's why we are reading into Nehemiah. And they fell far away because they neglected the word of God. And Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 3 says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? You will not escape the starvation of the spirit if you neglect the salvation of God. It's not according to entitlement. It's according to his sovereign will. And there's nothing sadder that I can imagine than God having saved you and saved me and us not doing what God had purposed us to do. And that just might be to be a godly father. And it just might be to be a godly mother. And it just might be to be a godly member or godly work associate. It just might be that God wants you to live an ordinary life before men to see how God can change and sustain. And by the way, that also brings us into the realm of suffering. And through our suffering, we can prove the glory of God. And through our persecution, we can prove the glory of God. because God calls us into situations, not because it suits us or not because it settles us, because it glorifies his name. You know one of the most heartbreaking parts of the work that I find now is going in and out of care homes. and seeing the effect of dementia and the debilitating and the degrading state in which people find themselves. And do you know who it's hardest on? It's hardest on the family that's looking on. How can I prove the grace of God? How can I fulfill my calling into circumstances and situations? How can I prove and how can I live for God? Just keep your eye on Him. He'll honor His name. The last thought I want to bring to you is not according to merit. Verses 11 to 13, I find this very intriguing. I'd never seen this before, and I hope that you see it as well. Verse 11 to 13. No man, Lord, sorry, where am I? I'm still in Abbots Cross, aren't I? Romans chapter 10, nine, sorry. 11 to 13. 11 to 13. For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, not of works, but of him that calleth. What's Paul saying here? Now you think about that for a minute. What is his chief purpose of saying that? It's so that it is not of works, but of the purpose of him who calleth. Paul is speaking about when they were still in the womb. And then he adds, before they had done any good or evil. He is saying that God's election of the Jew was not according to merit or good works or a kind nature or the observance of the law. In other words, it was not of any good or any goodness that they had done. They hadn't time to do it. They hadn't read the law, they didn't know the law, and they didn't even try to obey the law. So if you're going to tell me that we are Abraham's seed, or we are of Moses and his teaching, then you may forget about it, because before they were ever born, before they ever had a time and an opportunity to do wrong, God said, I set my love on them. And by the way, it was before they had any time to do anything wrong, too. They hadn't any time to do that which was evil or sinful. So no amount of good works or religious practice or benevolent giving could possibly have been a factor in their situation. No amount of arrogance or ignorance, disobedience, rebellion, deviousness could possibly have been a factor for their rejection either. When it says Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated, it is relation to the fact that Jacob had received the blessing of patriarchal lineage through whom would come salvation. Here's what MacDonald says about this verse. He says a lot more than this, by the way, but here's what he says. This passage refers to earthly blessings and not to eternal life. God's hatred of Edomites does not mean that Edomites cannot be saved. Any more than his love for Jews means Gentiles can't be saved. He's not willing that any should perish. So before you get a big head, Or before you think that it's because of some specific work or something that you've done, God just saved you because God wanted to save you. Now, I was trying to think of a few things to apply in this as I bring this first part of Romans, sorry, second part of Romans nine to a conclusion. Next time I'm in the pulpit, I'll be thinking about the accusation that God is unfair. He hardened Pharaoh's heart. And yet the Bible says also that Pharaoh hardened his heart. And if you ever read through the scripture, oftentimes he spoke in such a way so in case that they would perceive and understand and then obey. That sounds strange when he's not willing that any should perish. And so the accusation would be God's not fair. Just a wee bit of trivia for you. In the Bible, there are 22 references to Pharaoh's heart being hardened. I'm on to the next sermon, that's the way two weeks ahead, but I may as well give this to you. There was 22 references, two references have nothing to do with Pharaoh. And then there's 10 where Pharaoh hardened his heart, and 10 references where God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Some interesting things about that, study it for yourself, see what it brings up to you. Let's come back to the application then for a few thoughts. Salvation in Jesus is a personal thing. It's a personal encounter. It's a wonderful encounter between me and God. When God comes to my heart, reveals my black heart, makes me desire to know him. It is not because of you are from a Christian home or church or country. It's not by inheritance or entitlement, nor is an obligation of God towards you. The second application that I would like to bring from what we've just thought about, your salvation is an up-to-date, real and living relationship with God. It's not what you've done or doing, but the mercy of God. It's a divine act of God that you're among the chosen. I had written down here, but I know that time has gone, Do you remember the story where Jesus told the parable of the man that went to the wedding but did the wrong clothing on him? Remember that? Whenever Jesus was teaching parables, you'll find it in Matthew chapter 22 and 14, whenever Jesus was teaching in parables, he wasn't trying to teach doctrine. And anybody who tries to teach doctrine from a parable is distorting the word of God. You cannot determine your doctrine on parables. When Jesus told a parable, he had one or at the most two points that he wanted to make. Because I find a contradiction in that parable in Matthew chapter 22. If this is in relation to heaven, then how did this man get here if he's in the wrong clothing? How did he get there? Sure, he wouldn't be allowed in. And the closing is dealing with the righteousness of Christ. So he's got in by another means or another manner other than the righteousness of Christ. And I know that he's ejected out, but how did he get there in the first place? So we have to not read into what this parable, what we think it's saying. What he's really saying is this. The point that he's making is this man, if you want to bring it up to date with you and I, make it personal. simply had not responded in faith and sought Christ for himself. He thought he could get there some other way. The third thing that I would like to say to you is this. Recognize the amazing grace of God that you're saved. And in recognizing the amazing grace of God does it well up within your heart a song of worship and praise that there but for the grace of God go I. Aren't you thankful you're saved this morning? Aren't you? How many times did you reject him before you got saved? How many times did you hear the gospel? How many times did God tug in your heart? How many times were you aware that you needed to yield to Christ and God came again and again and again? The amazing patience and grace of God is beyond human comprehension. And does that not well within our hearts a burst of praise for God that you saved a wretch like me? Can you take it in? I have loved you with an everlasting love. Can you take it in? Way before the foundation of the world, he said, I loved you. Before the husband told you he loved you, if he ever told you, I have loved you. Do we ever really think about that? Regardless of all our imperfections, regardless of all our faults and failures and weaknesses, I have loved you. And then he looks at you square in the eye and he says, nothing's going to change that. And have you recognized that you, not even you, deserve the wonderful gift of God's amazing grace? What is man that thou art mindful of him? That's dealing with those first four verses. You may not necessarily agree with me in all my conclusions, that's all right. But I'll tell you, go and talk to God about it. Read up on it. If you'd spent as much hours as I spent on this one message, I think you'd come to some conclusions as well. Let's pray together and let's seek the Lord. And then we're gonna sing together this final song. We thank you for your sovereign grace. Lord, it's not my grace, it's not my electing grace. I know, Lord, I had nothing to do with it, nothing to do with it. God saved me because of his sovereign grace. Thank you, Lord, for setting your love on me and giving me that faith, that desire, that assurance to believe God. Thank you for the work of God in my heart and in the heart of those who are bowed before you. We ask, Lord, that none of us will feel entitlement. None of us will consider that we deserve to be saved, but we realize, Lord, salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. In his name we pray, amen. We're gonna stand and sing this song, What Kind of Love Is This? Thank you, James. I am the guilty one. All kinds of love we bring. Who laid us on this road Remain standing. Keep that last verse on the PowerPoint, please. We're gonna sing it in a wee moment, just a wee moment. We'll sing it acapella, if that's all right. We can get the right key just to start off. But something occurred to me when we were singing that song, and I like it when God does that. I wouldn't have known the love of God if he hadn't set his love on me. I wouldn't have known his heart. I wouldn't have known the extent of his forgiveness, his mercy. wouldn't have known many of the traits and the characteristics of God that we so love. Isn't that right? Think of it. Think of the things that you love about God. Think of the experiences you've had of God. Imagine that you didn't have those. Imagine. Imagine time extremely difficult obstacles in your life. And I know that some of you are dealing with them, but imagine, imagine whenever God gave you the faith to get through those things, imagine not having that experience. Imagine not having a godly father, godly mother. Imagine not having a godly friend, a godly husband, and a godly wife. God hadn't set his love on you. I think it's terrible to live in darkness. Don't you? Don't look at me like that, just, God, thank you. Thank you. There's aspects of your character that I have experienced. And had you not done so, I would never have known them. I wouldn't know the measure of love I wouldn't know the extent of forgiveness. In fact, we wouldn't be able to talk about this today's subject. Living in forgiveness. How humbling that is. So we came to this. By grace I have been saved. is the gift of God. He blessed me to be His son, such is His love. Don't you just love them all over again, don't you? Let's close in prayer. Our Father, we pray, they'll separate us, Lord, not with the negative things we've taken out of this message, not with the things, Lord, that we don't agree with, but on the many things that we do agree with. And help us, Lord, to live in the light of them, that we may truly be those who are called out, called in, and called on to serve Christ. In his name we pray, and everybody say it. Amen, thank you so much, you may be seated. I'll freeze away before we're finished.